There was an indication last week that soon-to-be prime minister Paul Martin is committed to preserving the supply management system for dairy, poultry and egg sectors.
Rural Ontario MP Paul Steckle, chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee, said he asked the new Liberal leader for a statement about supply management, now under pressure at World Trade Organization talks and from domestic critics.
“I firmly and fully support supply management,” Martin replied, according to a statement issued in Ottawa by Steckle. “We must be clear. When it comes to international trade negotiations, the concept of supply management is not negotiable.”
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Normally, the government promises to defend and protect Canada’s system of limited guaranteed access, high over-access tariffs, production controls and price setting.
The supply management industry saw Martin’s use of the words “not negotiable” as an important strengthening of the government commitment.
“I think it’s a very good sign for supply management and Canadian agriculture in general if he understands the industry, supports the industry and in our case, supports what is a very important part of the industry,” Mike Dungate, general manager of the Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency, said in a Dec. 5 interview.
“I appreciate his clear use of words and his use of strong words,” said Dungate. “I think people in the industry will take comfort in that.”
Steckle, long a supporter of Martin, said last week he “could not be happier that our next prime minister is so engaged and proactive on issues involving our supply managed sectors.”
The MP said that while Martin has only been Liberal leader since mid-November and does not become prime minister until Dec. 12, “he has already taken a stand that will help to ensure that long-term preservation of Canada’s orderly marketing decision which, by extension, is a real boost for the whole of rural Canada.”
The supply management lobby will be certain to remind Martin of that promise when he is prime minister and to remind the free trade-supporting politician that defending supply management means maintaining high over-quota tariff barriers that keep cheap product out.
At the end of the last WTO negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief signalled to producers that their demand of no reduction in over-quota tariffs was unlikely to be realized, since Canada is the only country among 148 WTO members opposed to over-quota tariff reductions.
